The Chicago Bears are undefeated in 2013 after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 3's Sunday NIght Football game. The final score was 40-23 in favor of the Bears as the game became more interesting as the Steelers' offense was able to make plays and almost stage an impossible comeback.
The Bears' biggest lead was 21 points. They started the game scoring 17 unanswered points. However, things did not completely finish going the Bears' way until 5:48 left in the ball game when the Bears once again made it a two possession game. With the score 27-23, Earl Bennett and Jay Cutler hooked up for a 17-yard score. The magic of this play was Bennett's remarkable footwork as the play was originally called an incomplete pass.
The Steelers went to work in the following possession, but Julius Peppers ran back a fumble recovery 42 yards for the score, putting the game completely out of reach, securing the Bears' victory.
The Bears never trailed in this one as they were able to establish their offense early on in the game.
Matt Forte found the end zone on a five-yard touchdown run, giving the Bears a 10-0 lead. The score followed a Steelers turnover as Roethlisberger was sacked and stripped, with the Bears recovering the loose ball. The Bears started their drive from the Steelers' 17-yard line and Forte ended the drive with the exclamation mark.
The Steelers defense was trying their best, but the Bears offense looked almost unstoppable early on. Forte set up a 1st & Goal with a 55-yard run. Michael Bush took in the Bears' second touchdown of the game after multiple attempts. The Steelers were looking at a 17-point deficit with 2 minutes left to play in the first quarter. Forte finished the game with 87 rushing yards and a touchdown.
Major Wright helped the Bears turn their defense into offense with a 38-yard interception he returned for the score. The touchdown made it a three-possession game and the Steelers could not get anything going consistently on offense.
The Steelers received a charge in the second quarter as Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown hooked up for a 33-yard touchdown pass. Brown was Roethlisberger's favorite target in this game as the two connected seven times for 163 yards and two touchdowns. Brown and Roethlisberger hooked up again in the third quarter, making it a one-possession game. Brown made a one-handed catch as he was falling out of bounds. He kept his feet in and the Steelers were just a touchdown away from tying the game with just under two minutes to play.
In retrospect, momentum completely changed at the end of the second quarter. The Steelers began finding themselves in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Bears 20-10 after being down 17-0 after the first period. It was not until Bennett's heroic and skillful play with less than six minutes left that the Bears once again regained control of this ball game.
If there is any good news for the Steelers in this game, Roethlisberger was able to get some offense going, though the running game struggled. He fumbled twice and threw two interceptions, but Roethlisberger threw for 406 yards and two touchdowns in this game. The numbers are huge in comparison to what the offense produced through the first two games of the year.
The Bears are now 3-0, dominating the NFC North. They play the second place Detroit Lions in Week 4, while the Steelers will continue searching for their first victory of the year against the Minnesota Vikings at Wembley Stadium.
